Caroline Glachan: Taxi driver saw schoolgirl hours before death

Caroline Glachan was 14 when her body was found in August 1996

A former taxi driver has told a murder trial he saw a teenage girl hours before her body was found in a river.

William Gardner spotted Caroline Glachan in Bonhill, West Dunbartonshire, shortly after midnight on 25 August 1996.

The schoolgirl's body was discovered in the River Leven in Renton later that day.

Robert O'Brien, 45, Andrew Kelly and Donna Marie Brand, both 44, deny murder.

• Caroline Glachan: Three on trial over 1996 murder of schoolgirl

• Friend advised schoolgirl not to meet man

Mr Gardner, who was picking up a security guard from a warehouse, said he recognised Caroline on Dillichip Loan "straight away".

He told the High Court in Glasgow she was walking at a normal pace and did not look upset.

The witness said he was concerned she was alone and said to the man he had just picked up: "What is she doing down here at this time of night? Her mother would kill her."

Mr Gardner later observed a hooded figure further down the street, walking about 30 yards behind Caroline.

An E-Fit of the man seen by William Gardner was released to national media during the investigation.

Mr Gardner said he was wearing a green hooded jacket covering half of his face.

He added the man had a distinctive chin and nose, and may have been wearing the hood as protection against midges or the cold.

The witness also said it was possible it could have been raised to conceal the man's features.

An E-fit was later produced and distributed in national newspapers in connection with the probe into Caroline's death.

The Crown later put it to Mr Gardner that the person he saw could have been a woman called Alison Curley.

Asked if the image could be Ms Curley, the witness said there was a similarity but he thought the chin of the person he saw was "a lot more pointed."

Witness quizzed

The trial then heard from Ms Curley, who was in the company of Caroline the night before her death.

She was questioned a number of times by detectives during the investigation.

In a 2021 police interview, Ms Curley said she and a boy had walked with the 14 year-old towards the River Leven area.

The witness believed she was going to meet Mr O'Brien, who she was said to be in a relationship with at the time.

Ms Curley, 57, claimed the boy with them had asked Caroline if she wanted them to "walk her all the way along".

The schoolgirl is said to have replied: "No, it is ok, there is Robbie there."

Defence agent, Ian Duguid KC asked the witness why this information had not been given during interviews prior to 2021.

The witness said she believed it had been but couldn't be sure.

Caroline's body was found on the banks of the River Leven in August 1996

Caroline's body was discovered on the riverbank in Renton with extensive injuries to her scalp, face and neck sustained from blunt force trauma.

Mr O'Brien is charged with assaulting Caroline in various places in West Dunbartonshire, while he and Ms Brand are both accused of previously evincing malice and ill will towards the schoolgirl.

The charge sheet says they and Kelly also shouted and swore at her, punched and kicked her on the head and body, threw bricks or similar instruments at her and caused blunt force injuries to her head and body with instruments unknown.

It alleges the three, acting with another person, caused Caroline to fall into the undergrowth rendering her unconscious and they pushed her into the river and murdered her.

The trio claim they were elsewhere at the time of Caroline's death.

The trial, before Lord Braid, continues.